Subjection
by Elsakun
Summary: Hinata, Naruto and Shikamaru are sent on their first official A-rank mission. However, when they are faced with the Akatsuki, what will happen? WARNING: Rating may go up.
1. Mission Failed

Subjection

**Disclaimer:** For all throughout this fan fiction, I do not own a single person. They all belong to Masashi Kishimoto (I think, might be wrong). A fan character or two might pop up, but hopefully not.

Hinata moaned as she climbed out of bed, rubbing her eyes. The morning light barely seeped into the room through the almost entirely closed windows. She stood, quickly doing some aerobics to awaken her tired body. After feeling that she did a sufficient job of this, she walked to her dresser, and withdrew some everyday clothes. Then she headed for the shower. It was not a long shower, like most girls would take before a stressful day. She wanted to be prepared for the dreaded mission promptly and not waste any time. There was no sense in hiding, because she would have to face it sooner or later.

She exited the bathroom, now fully clothed and her hair groomed appropriately. Hinata almost groaned when she discovered her cousin and father still asleep, then realized that it was better than having to say a goodbye to them in person. She went to her desk, dug out a piece of paper and a pen, scribbled a note saying that she had left on an important mission and would be back soon, and placed it on the dining room table.

With that last chore out of her conscience, she departed from the Hyuuga residence with a pang of regret. The mission was definitely a dangerous one; in fact, she wondered why it had not been given to ANBU. She knew well that she may not be able to see her friends' faces again. But she did not wish to think pessimistically, because then, without a doubt, something would go awry.

Pushing those thoughts aside, she and her team would meet at Ichiraku's for a short breakfast before heading to the Hokage mansion to receive the details of the mission. Hinata was determined to make it a joyous meal, in case one of them was lost, so they could always look back on that memory. She winced and mentally hit herself. Didn't she just say that she didn't want to think that negative things would happen?!

As she arrived at the ramen shop, she noticed someone had already arrived. He was gulping down the delicious food—or was he inhaling it?—bowl after bowl. She giggled and sat next to her childhood crush. "Good morning, Naruto."

The blond stopped his devouring of his umpteenth serving and glanced at her with a silly grin. "Good morning, Hinata! Some mission we're going to go on, huh? About time Granny Tsunade figured out how good we are!"

This caused her to giggle again. "I don't think that's the reason. Maybe we were just the most fit for it."

Naruto just shrugged and continued what he was previously doing. While he did that, she placed an order of the diet ramen and began to wait for their final teammate. A tense silence filled the restaurant. Naruto even stopped eating, the bowl half-finished. He was usually oblivious to said tension, but today it was so strong. A few minutes later, Hinata's order was placed in front of her. Silently, she unclipped her chopsticks and began to eat. It wasn't nearly as good as she knew her meal for that day should be, but it gave her efficient nutrients that would help on her journey.

Naruto dug out his frog wallet to pay for his meal, then asked the owner if he could stay while they waited for his teammate. Ayame, the waitress, answered positive while nudging her father sharply with her elbow. Then Teuchi quieted and waited for business to pop up out of nowhere.

Hinata couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed. What could she do to lighten the mood? Maybe when the last person arrived, it would be easier...

"Hey." They gazed over their shoulder to see the last member had arrived. He stood, evidently not wishing to sit, then explained. "I already ate. Didn't want junk food for breakfast. Would've made the mission harder." He groaned. "But did the Godaime really have to make us do this? Couldn't we have just gone straight to the mansion? How troublesome."

"Hey, Shikamaru!" Hinata playfully punched her friend, surprising everyone in the vicinity. "Be more cheerful!"

Shikamaru instantly caught on to what she was trying to do. "Hmm, okay then."

As she finished eating, the two males shared jokes and conversed about funny things that happened on the way here. Placing her money down on the counter, she turned to them, waiting for them to finish their discussion. She listened and laughed along with them. They continued on to the Fifth Hokage's office, their joyous cries echoing through the town in its early morning glory.

However, once they approached the mansion, they quieted down. Hinata bravely took the first step up the staircase, and the other two followed. When the Godaime's office came into view, they saw that the door was already open for them, so stepped in without hesitation.

Tsunade glared at them, inaudibly accusing them for being late. Naruto checked the clock on the wall. "Ahh, we're only a minute late, Granny Tsunade!"

Tsunade sighed and waved it off. "Whatever. Now listen up." They stood attentively, desperate for information. "You're to go to Amegakure and assist the Fuuma clan. They need you to infiltrate the Kamizuru clan. They believe that this family has stolen certain documents with classified data and are suspecting them of kidnapping the main branch's son. The Kamizuru clan is very dangerous to rival with, because they specialize in explosives and stealth."

"Pardon me for interrupting, Fifth Hokage," Hinata spoke, "but why do they need Konoha ninja? Aren't they a Hidden Village?"

"Apparently, all the ninja are in the midst of something important," Tsunade dismissed. "Anyways, go straight to the Fuuma's house when you arrive at Amegakure. I'll state the reason you were chosen: Hinata, your Byakugan will most certainly come in handy, and you're not too bad at stealth, unlike your cousin; Shikamaru, you've been practically asking for a mission, and your decisive mind is just the thing this mission needs. Naruto..." she trailed off. "...I don't remember. You're just available, I guess."

Naruto looked ticked, but was attempting to keep his temper down. "Can we go now?"

Tsunade smirked. "Wait, there's one more thing. In order to prove that you guys are the one that I sent, take this note." She shoved said paper into Shikamaru's hands. "You're the leader. Be back in one week. Get on it!"

"Yes sir!" The trio saluted before dashing out of the room.

* * *

After two long days of mostly running and only resting for less than five minutes per four hours (excluding the ten hours of sleep they had), they arrived at their destination. Shikamaru had been accurate when he calculated how to cut the original four-day journey in half. Evidently he wished to get this mission over with.

As soon as they entered the town, Hinata and Naruto collapsed, absolutely exhausted.

"Sh-Shikamaru," Hinata panted. "That was... unnecessary."

Shikamaru only shrugged, as one could expect. "It's not my fault you two didn't use the rest time wisely. Could've rebuilt your chakra or fed yourself, but apparently you only wanted to sit there with your tongues hanging out like dogs." He sighed and gazed up at the sky. "I wish I was a cloud right now."

Hinata and Naruto blinked, confused at his sudden statement. Eventually, they silently agreed to ignore it; after all, this was Shikamaru they were talking about. After successfully gathering the energy to continue, together they shot threw the town almost immediately, quickly finding the Fuuma residence. It wasn't as hard to find as you would think. The house, if it could be called that, was the size of the Uchiha clan's residential area. _'These guys must be a major part of Ame,'_ deduced the genius, and raised a fist to the door.

_Knock, knock._

A jounin-looking male answered the door, piercings nearly covering his entire face. There were six piercings on his nose (three on each side), and both the ears had eight, and on his bottom lip there were two, almost fang-like ones. "Can I help you?" he inquired, oblivious to Hinata and Naruto's gathered attempts to regain their faltering strength.

"Yeah, we're the ones that were called to investigate something," Shikamaru explained lazily, his signature slouch kicking in.

His eyes narrowed. "Have you any proof?"

The leader dug out the note Tsunade had given him and handed it to the resident. "The Hokage said this was what you needed."

He took the slip of paper, eyes scanning it for a moment, before he nodded. "Very well. Please come in."

The trio entered the building and the man introduced himself. "You may call me Nagato. My wife Kana will bring us some tea shortly."

Almost like he could see the future, a woman with black hair messily tied into a bun and with a flower placed neatly behind her ear entered the room. With her, she held a tray of four teacups and a teapot in her right hand. She positioned the containers and the tray on the coffee table, filled the cups, handed one said cup to each person before smiling. "Hello, ninjas from Konoha. My name is Kana, as Nagato has informed you. I hope you will be able to assist us."

"We'll do our best," Hinata offered politely.

"But is your best enough?" Nagato pondered aloud. "The Ame ninja failed drastically, as did the ones from Kusagakure. What makes you think you will do better?"

Shikamaru gave him a blank glance. "They didn't have an IQ over two hundred," he answered simply.

Nagato looked somewhat disturbed by the sudden news, but the look quickly vanished. "Very well. The Kamizuru clan reside in the building to the right of this one. However, the inside is like a maze, and you could quickly become lost. There's a hidden gate in the backyard of this house that leads to their main dwelling. There should be a room in the northern-most part of the complex that houses both the documents and our son."

Shikamaru's eyebrows knitted together. "How do you know all this?"

"...The Fuuma clan used to share land with the Kamizuru."

"Okay..."

Naruto shrugged. "What's up?"

Shikamaru just shook his head. "Nothing..." Then he stood. "We'll begin the infiltration in the morning. It's too late to begin now and we're worn out from our journey."

Kana nodded, and copied his movement. "Please follow me. You will be given separate rooms. I trust that is all right?"

The team nodded and followed the wife. Just as they were going into the brightly lit hallway, however, Shikamaru could've sworn that Nagato murmured, "He's ours." His eyes narrowed, but he made sure not to slow his pace. When he arrived at his designated room, he collapsed on the bed and gazed at the ceiling. He suddenly had a lot of things to think about... _'Boy, if I thought the mission was going to be this troublesome, I wouldn't have accepted it,' _he thought with a groan.

Naruto sleepily tore himself away from his bed and to the door. He was still half-asleep, and didn't quite understand that he was in his pajamas. His hand reached for the doorknob, but it swung open and hit him in the nose.

"Oww, what was that for?!" he hissed, rubbing his poor nose.

"I—I'm so sorry!" a female voice exclaimed.

He jerked his attention to the woman in the doorway. Who was she...? She had black hair in a messy bun, a flower behind her ear... Then he recalled last night's events. "Kana, what's wrong?" he inquired.

Her face turned bright red (he didn't know why) in embarrassment, but continued nonetheless. "H-Hinata's gone!"

He jumped up at this surprising news. "What?! Where'd she go?!"

"I don't know! All I found in her room was this..." she held the note to his eye level.

_'Konoha ninja,_

_If you want your precious kunoichi back, then come and get her. But bring Nagato and Kana with you._

—_Kamizuru Clan'_

"Her room's a big, bloody mess," Shikamaru announced from behind Kana. "That girl put up a fight."

His mind was doing flips. Why did they take Hinata, if they didn't want to be found? Why didn't anyone hear anything when Hinata was being kidnapped? Why in the world did they need Mr. and Mrs. Fuuma? Then there were the events from yesterday. If these two were really part of the main branch, where was the rest of them? Even if the Fuuma and Kamizuru clans used to share land, why were they so knowledgeable about where the documents and their son were? And the gate that separated the land? He'd gotten a good look at that last night. The gate split the land in two, but there was a gate that connected it. And it wasn't hidden—it was in plain sight. He'd even done some snooping on the Kamizuru residence. It was completely deserted except for two who had been scouting the area. And these two weren't just anyone—_they were Akatsuki._ This was proven because of their dark cloaks with red clouds on them. So it wasn't Sasori, Kakazu or Hidan, because those three had been disposed of. Even putting that aside, the layout was exactly like Nagato had described. That couldn't have been a coincidence.

Something was a little too fishy about this. He didn't like one bit of it. Now he couldn't trust his clients. Maybe those two were apart of Akatsuki themselves. Maybe this was an Akatsuki hideout, and the mission was to draw out Naruto? No, wait, Tsunade had said that he'd only come because he was "available". Naruto coming on the mission was simply bad luck. To capture someone close to Naruto, then. Hinata certainly fit the bill. And, it was troublesome, but so was himself.

And the reason why Nagato had seemed disturbed by Shikamaru's "over two hundred" IQ comment was because it made the situation more difficult to go through. Since they knew how smart he was, the Kamizuru's was definitely assorted with traps and obstacles. As if the maze wasn't enough...

"Shikamaru?" Naruto shook his friend lightly to snap him out of his reverie. "What are you thinking about at a time like this?"

Shikamaru started and realized he'd had his hands in that "o" formation. He quickly reverted to his signature slouch. "Sorry," he muttered. "Let's talk to Nagato about this."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I can't believe those bastards would pull something like this!"

Shikamaru scowled. _'That's not what I meant.'_

They met the head of the clan in the room they had met during the previous evening. Nagato made eye contact with them before standing. "It's quite a misfortune that miss Hyuuga was kidnapped." He seemed irritated. Now that he thought about it, so was Kana. Perhaps this was not according to plan?

Shikamaru shook his head. _'I need to think about the other possibilities, as well.'_ "There are several routes we can take," he suggested, taking out a scroll from behind his back. He unrolled it to reveal a map. "I did some snooping last night and discovered that there were Akatsuki members in the Kamizuru's house. This could mean that A, the clan had been recently wiped out by them and they are now using this building as a hideout; B, the Kamizuru clan could actually houses the Akatsuki, or C—" he narrowed his eyes—"as much as I hate to think it, that you two, Nagato and Kana, are part of the Akatsuki."

All three looked startled. "Wh-what are you talking about, Shikamaru?" Naruto laughed nervously. "You're joking, right?"

"As much as I wish I was, I'm not," the chunin growled. He then proceeded to reveal his thoughts to the trio. He was suspicious about discussing this in front of the Fuumas, but as his clients, they _unfortunately _had a right to now.

Nagato and Kana were speechless at the end of the genius' list, until the former smirked. "Looks like you live up to that 'two hundred plus IQ' reputation you have. Even I didn't expect you to figure it out so quickly."

The tension inhabiting the room suddenly increased as pieces of paper flew around Kana, forming wings that made her seem like an angel. "This is God's Will," she recited monotonously. "Accept it."

The papers formed themselves into shuriken and hailed down upon the unsuspecting duo. The captain dodged them with ease, and Naruto with little difficulty. They joined together, when the leader suddenly yelled out a command.

"Naruto! You've got to get out of here!"

"What! You think I'm going to leave you and Hinata?!"

"I'm the captain, Naruto, do as I say! I promise we'll return alive, however troublesome that may be! Now move it!"

The Jinchuuriki hissed in distaste. "But—"

More paper shrikes made their move. They were harder to avoid this time, but nothing a genius and a Sannin's trainee couldn't handle. _Naruto, you'll get us killed!"_

This made him flinch. "O... okay, fine! I'll go get Kakashi-sensei!"

"I'm afraid you won't."

The duet started at the voice blatantly filled with murderous intent. It continued, "None of the Konoha shinobi will be informed of what's going on... at least for a while."

Naruto roared and attempted to punch the voice head on, but it—_when did Nagato get so advanced? _wondered Shikamaru—merely countered as if it were the simplest thing to do.

_'Damn. I've got to think of something fast. Kana won't keep her paper weapons still long enough for me to use my Shadow Possession Jutsu. Nagato has the slightest chance of doing that, but he's pretty strong if he can blow Naruto back with one blow. Think, Shikamaru, _think...

And thought he did. His usual "o" hand formation came into place, and he was sure Kana was laughing at him inwardly now. Subconsciously he knew this. When his eyes popped open a few minutes later, he knew exactly what he would do.

"Oi, Nagato!" he called to get his attention. The Akatsuki did so and gave him a look of sheer annoyance, but quickly regretted this when he received a chakra-empowered Rasengan in the stomach. Wincing, he turned his attention back to his opponent, to be sure not to take another blow like that again.

"Naruto, I'll hold him off!"

"Huh?" Naruto jumped, then gazed at the impostor and his eyes twinkled. Nagato had been caught in Shikamaru's Shadow Possession Jutsu!

Another barrage of paper weapons. The pair dodged them easily, not really caring for Nagato's wellbeing (though there was a loud THUMP! sound that indicated Nagato ramming into something). "Stop ignoring me, brat!" Kana shouted angrily.

Shikamaru quickly turned to see what happened with Nagato, and smirked to himself when he found the phony unconscious. _'That was easier than I thought.'_ He glanced back at Kana. This would be cake.

Her vision blurred, the light hurting her eyes. She winced, but pushed herself until she adjusted to the brightness. Overall, she wasn't completely startled to find herself in tightened ropes. The villains from last night had made it a goal to give her the most painful way to drag her off, so why would that have changed now?

...Although, it was really only loose enough to give her breath...

Her eyes lit up with an idea. She shifted her gaze to see if anyone was in the room. No one was. Just to be sure, she rechecked with Byakugan. The Akatsuki members were both at the beginning of the maze. As quietly as she could, she used her nails to untie her restraints. The as-sharp-as-shuriken nails were originally Temari of the Sand's idea, but soon everyone in Konoha had the extra gift. It didn't surprise her that the Akatsuki didn't know.

When the restraints were finally relinquished, she stood and browsed the area. Her weapons and etc. were in the room to the right. The way out was to the front. She gathered her property after masking her chakra and exited. Then she gasped in realization. Her necklace! The shorter one had it in his hands, and her Byakugan never lied. That meant that they had known she was going to escape the ropes and wouldn't evacuate without it. Why they knew so much about her personal possessions, she decided not to ask.

Thus, the infiltration began.

It wasn't even half an hour later when she arrived at the entrance/exit. Just before the corner that led to it, she stopped to catch her breath. The traps had been hard to avoid, what with her chakra running low and decreasing by the minute. She fully prepared herself as mentally/physically as she thought possible before she walked up to the two stealthily. Maybe, she theorized, if she could just get the first strike, attack them by surprise—!

What she wanted, of course, was cut short by them turning around. _'So much for that idea.'_ She unmasked her chakra and charged, palms forward, ready to begin her jutsu.

The shorter one (while he was, indeed, shorter than the taller man, he was pretty tall himself) had the ghost of a smirk on his face as he entered a fighting stance. The larger one, with the two-handed sword, laughed at her bold move and placed said weapon in his hands.

"Hinata Hyuuga, if you do not wish to have your life ended so shortly, I suggest you hold back," the one who 'smirked' informed, holding up her possession. She stopped as commanded, but sent him an icy look. Her enemy had the upper hand, and all three knew it. She wouldn't act like her polite, defenseless self in front of an Akatsuki. It was time they learned how much she deserved being the head of her clan!

"I thought as much," he sighed, and took his hat off, revealing a set of red eyes and thick, black hair that was kept in a ponytail on the inside of his cloak.

"Sasu..." Hinata caught herself and narrowed her eyes. "Itachi-san, why have you kidnapped me?"

The other, who had also taken off the straw accessory, (he had shark's skin and pupil-less eyes, with coarse dark blue hair) laughed once more. "Wow, you knew it was him by glance, huh? We'll have to use our disguises after all."

With that, they transformed into two stunningly different people. The Uchiha had turned into someone with blond hair spiking down at the back, just long enough for it to be placed in a ponytail. His eyes went from red to a bluish-green, but his outfit was what differed him from what his original self the most. He wore an outfit much like Sai, except the shirt's sleeves were longer.

Examining the other fellow, his eyes looked completely normal now—in fact, they were a deep brown. His skin had melted into a dark tan, his now black hair in a style suspiciously like Naruto's (which caused Hinata to blush slightly, praying to Kami that one of them would not actually transform into him in front of her), and gave off a very masculine aura, comparing to his previous shark-like one. This Akatsuki dressed similarily to Chouji.

"If you do not remain quiet, I will have to use force," Itachi monotonously muttered.

"I won't just let you use me for attracting Naruto," Hinata barked, assuming a battle stance.

Itachi did the same, wordlessly. The one who remind her of Naruto/Chouji just thrust his sword towards her. "You're making a big mistake, kid. Don't blame us if you end up dead!"

With that, the fight began. The formerly blue one (we'll just refer to this one as "anon" for now) ran at her, preparing to shove said weapon into her torso, but she quickly dodged and set on blocking his chakra points. Itachi realized this and attempted to trip her, but instead ended up with one or two chakra points blocked himself. He grimaced. She was, admittedly, tougher than his first impression was in the former Fuuma residence, but she was still weaker with her chakra quickly depleting.

She looked like she knew this, too. She was breathing heavily and unhesitantly, as if panicking, though his partner was unable to prevent her from sealing his chakra. Itachi wasn't a people-watcher, but he decided to see how anon could take the Hyuuga on his own.

At the fifty-fourth point blocked, Anon roared in rage and successfully struck her with his sword. The bandages flew off as it hit and revealed something indigo purple, and... furry? No, the correct term would be something like soft scales.

Hinata gasped in pain as it went threw her shoulder, nearly injuring her shoulderblade. Her chakra... was the sword feasting on it? She swiftly dislodged the sharp item, but it was too late. Most of her chakra had already been absorbed. Her vision was blurring.

It was at times like this that she wished that she wasn't so pathetic.


	2. Familiar but Doesn't Ring a Bell

Subjection

**Disclaimer:** The basic idea of what happens in this chapter near the end belongs to _yvie _(of ). But please do not try to discover what it is exactly; that ruins the plot. For anything else, please refer to chapter one.

A/N: Hello everyone, sorry to keep you waiting! It just took a while for the inspiration to pop up. But nonetheless, I hope you are satisfied with what you are given. Hopefully it's not so predictable or like the Itachi/Sakura fan fiction "Perception" (forgot author). That's where I got the inspiration for this.

Now I'm going to answer my lovely reviewers that I honestly do appreciate!

**AuthorArt12: **Hmm, really? I never thought about my style like that. I kept thinking it was pure description and dialogue(sp?). Thanks tho, it really encourages me!

**shessybabe:** Aww, thanks! I really needed that!

**snowyangel-13: **I'm very glad you enjoyed! Yup, this is part romance, (I probably should knock off the "adventure" part)! Ooh, and guess what? ROMANCE BEGINS IN THIS CHAPTER WOO (shot for spoilers)

**Xerxes93:** Thank you so much! Hopefully this will last longer than most of my ideas. (sweatdrop)

Remember, reviews are healthy for both you and me, they're fun, and that button down there is there for a REASON. :) Nice to know, huh?

--

Hinata moaned softly as she regained consciousness, but it hurt her mouth to make even that sound. She decided that, unlike when she previously awoke in the middle of imprisonment, she would keep her eyelids closed tightly. For the time being, at least. She was unsure of whether or not she was still in the palm of the Akatsuki, or safely back in Konoha. Either way, her right leg was numb, and her left shoulder burned with pain. She would need a medic soon if she wanted to escape as soon as possible, she knew, and wondered why her captors had not given her worse wounds. Of course, with her leg being numb from her waist to the soles of her foot and her chakra nearly completely deprived, she wasn't going anywhere. Was that really enough for these monsters with such evil intentions?

Now that she thought about it, if she only shifted her leg into a position where it was not directly under her, it would recover quickly. And her shoulder would heal naturally, the maximum time of restoration being a few days. Her chakra would certainly be back to assist her by then. Surely this S-ranked group of criminals knew better than to leave a kunoichi with barely a scratch.

Right, so first thing to do is to move the leg. She had barely flinched when she discovered that it would be impossible. She was rendered immobile, due to her legs being restrained to the cold stone floor, and her arms in the same position, only against the wall.

"So you are awake."

As whomever it was spoke, Hinata felt as if she had been belted in the face with a snowball: frozen, bitter, surprising, and more than likely to become swollen. She had a feeling she knew who this person was, though her eyes were much more reluctant to open than they had been last time, and as such she assumed that she had been asleep for at least two times longer than when she was first taken hostage.

Though she gave no outward reply, the voice continued. "You are our captive. You are to remain in this room at all times unless being escorted by one of us. Your arms will be detached from the walls only for you to eat. We will do what we like with you, and you will follow our orders without hesitation or resistance; if we notice that you are indeed hesitating or resisting, we will punish you appropriately. Do I make myself clear?"

She gave a small mumble to show he indeed did. Despite how cold his tone was, his sound was smooth, rich, and silky, much like that of a young Daimyou—meaning that, just by talking, he implied he was used to the company of high-class citizens.

There was a silence, and for a moment, she wondered if he had left. She found he hadn't when he most rudely ordered, "Open your eyes."

The rules he had stated resonated within her throbbing head. She barely obeyed his command, only squinting in his general direction. Her eyes widened when she saw Itachi Uchiha standing there, but quickly realized that was not a smart thing to do—her eyes were too used to the dark to receive a full blow of artificial light so suddenly. Her eyes immediately shut tight.

"I said open your eyes, kunoichi. Do not react as if you are a newborn child."

His criticism burned her, but she knew he was merely stating a fact, and perhaps unintentionally giving advice. Yes, indeed, behaving like a "newborn child" was absolutely unacceptable for a chuunin. She should face the light quickly, so as to adjust to it soon. Though, an image of an angry, homicidal Itachi in her mind fueled her more than that ever could.

Her eyes flickered open, and this time they stayed that way. She gasped when she noticed where she was. No, she wasn't in some secret base of some sort, some sort of prison or dungeon, or even a storeroom.

Yes, she was on the floor. Yes, the floor was stone and cold. Yes, Itachi Uchiha was staring at her as if expecting something. Yes, it was making her uncomfortable. Yes, she wanted nothing more than to fall back into unconsciousness and away from the embarrassing situation presented before her.

No, she could not do so. No, she was not afraid of her condition, her captors, or if she was anywhere near Amegakure. No, she was not, for once, worried about Naruto. No, she was not as determined as she had been when she had attacked the two missing-nins. No, she did not want to cry despite how hopeless she was at that moment.

Here she was, shirtless (though her brassiere remained intact, which she was thankful for) and in a much more shirtless Itachi's bedroom. At least, she assumed it was, for he was the one sitting stiffly on the bed and didn't seem to disturbed at what was going on. In fact, he seemed rather... _amused._ Even though he was her enemy, to be so vulnerable...

She felt the heat rush to her cheeks and she immediately turned away. He was trying to intimidate her, and they both knew he was succeeding. He then grumbled something that might have once been a chuckle, but now it was nothing more than a grunt.

"I'm going to ask you again. Do I make myself clear?"

She gulped, becoming more fearful at the persistent tone in his voice. "...Y-yessir."

"What is your relationship with the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki?" he interrogated, almost like a professional.

Hinata gaped. "W-what do you want with N-Naruto?!" Just as the words left her mouth, she knew she had made a mistake. If his ultimate goal was to capture Naruto and extract the Kyuubi—which seemed incredibly accurate, considering the Akatsuki were after all the Jinchuuriki—then he would keep her here to draw him in. What a dirty trick! Of course, the Akatsuki were always willing to do anything to achieve their goal. What they wanted with the Jinchuuriki, only they knew.

If you gazed straight into Itachi's eyes, you would've seen the smug expression dancing across his face, despite how his mouth didn't take part in it. Of course, she had begun focusing on the ground before her, and only her Byakugan granted her peripheral vision.

Wait... Duh! She felt stupid for not thinking of this earlier. She activated said eye jutsu, met eye-to-eye with Itachi to show she did not fear them (however untrue that statement might be), before scouting the area for enemies and possible escape routes.

...Or at least, that's what she _intended_ to do. However, her chakra was too low at the moment and she really didn't want to waist any. These people were _really damn smart._

"So you are close to him then, if you refer to him in such a manner," Itachi concluded. Then, without waiting for a response, he continued. "What branch are you of the Hyuuga clan?"

Hinata bit her lip. "Th-the main..."

Itachi blinked, seeming surprised. "Interesting. I heard that Hiashi's eldest daughter was not nearly as strong as Hizashi's son. Am I to deem that to be true?"

Itachi was indeed "interested" at the heiress's reaction. Her fists clenched and her teeth grit against each other. Her eyebrows almost touched each other at the tips, her eyes slitting with distaste. "No," she answered slowly. "You are not to. I proved that wrong long ago, and I don't want to again."

"You're going to have to."

Her eyes flashed back up to his, startled. "What?"

His lips twitched upwards slightly. He felt something he hadn't in a while, and for that he was pleased. He was actually having _fun_ with this girl. It did not happen to fly past him that her original stuttering had ceased. "I'm not going to release you," he explained patiently. "You're going to have to yourself. If you do manage to escape by the time I return, I might acknowledge you to be at a higher level than your cousin's."

Her bemused and unbelieving look was enough to fill him with a slight admiration—evidently she felt confident in her skills of slipping away while he was gone. "We'll see," his expression read. He simply would not believe her until she proved her worth. Itachi stood and left the room, but not before throwing a familiar gray-and-purple jacket on the ground, causing Hinata's face and ears to turn as red as a tomato.

--

"What do you mean, 'Hinata was captured'?!"

Tsunade growled. "Exactly what it sounds like. Hinata Hyuuga was taken hostage by the Akatsuki. Of course we know it's to bait Naruto in, but we can't let that happen. So I'm sending you and a squad of your choice. You may take up to eight with you."

The jounin furrowed his brow. "I won't try to hide it, I am _very_ concerned. I expected Naruto to come back in a fatal condition, but Shikamaru as well? How in the world did they even manage to come back? What does their report state?"

The Hokage handed a small, hot-dog-style-folded white paper.. "Only Shikamaru was capable of writing something, and this is what it said."

He took the note and unfolded it. His eyes quickly scanned it, and his jaw dropped when they discovered what was written in a scribbled and almost illegible form. "How is this possible...?"

"Sakura wouldn't let me near enough to question him until he had recovered. If you have anything else you need to be told, you've got to ask them personally." She sighed and sipped her sake. "And to do that, you have to convince their medic. That woman's as stubborn as me, if not more. Consider it part of your mission to convince her."

He didn't like the sound of that. "Very well. I suppose the original rookie nine, excluding Naruto and Hinata, will be available?"

Tsunade cracked a grin. "You can count on it."

--

Itachi reentered the small compartment some hours later, this time thankfully clad in the Akatsuki cloak, which hid most of his body. He couldn't remember how many hours—just that he had left some time in the early morning and now it was nearly lunchtime, and the kunoichi needed her nutrients. Sure, maybe he should have made Kisame take her meal to her, but he was curious to see how she had progressed. And if she _had_ truly forced herself out of the bonds, then Kisame wouldn't hesitate in killing her. No, that would not do.

He slowly slid the door open as to give Hinata some warning of his entrance. He stepped in and got a good look at the scene. The captive was still on the floor and gave no sign of ever moving since he left. He was... disappointed. He had expected her to have her chakra back and for her to be standing up in preparation for a fight. He had overestimated her.

Itachi placed the tray of food in front of her. She looked up at him barely, her eyes showing weariness. He took out a small key to relieve her arms, when his eyes widened.

Hinata took that opportunity and tried to punch him in the face with the arm on whose side he was on, but he just barely avoided it. He narrowed his eyes. "How did you do it?"

She paused, exchanged looks with him, before reaching into her pocket. He entered a defensive position, despite her inappearance of seeming hostile. She pulled out a lockpick. It had definitely been bent many times, and there were teethmarks and the end that wasn't. It looked like she knew better than to go around with weapons only on her upper torso, unlike Neji Hyuuga.

"I'm not th-that stupid," she informed before slipping it back into said pocket. Then she reached her arm as far as it could for her shirt, though when this proved to not cover the needed amount, she shifted onto her knees and crawled slowly, wincing and nearly falling over with each step.

"Walk," Itachi murmured. "Why don't you?"

She finally arrived at her jacket and slipped it on somewhat awkwardly due to her position. She then turned to him and replied, "My leg is n-numb."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Her expression flashed with surprise. "I can't w-walk with it like th-that. Every time I t-try I overbal-balance. Don't you know that, Uchi-Uchiha-san?"

Her attempt to be sassy was beginning to irk him. Even if she _was_ just seeing how far he would let her go, she was going too far. One more comment and he'd have remind her where exactly her place was. And her stuttering was becoming more and more frequent... He did not like that. Not one bit.

Wait, why did he care if she tripped over her words or not? Many people did it, and it just happened that she was one of them. He exhaled only barely noticeably, deciding firmly that this was not the time to ponder on such things. He was in the presence of a more-or-less enemy.

"Hn." He did not care to answer her remarks. He knew he was irritated, and because of that he did something he had not thought he would even consider doing, ever in his life. He thought that a month later he would still wonder why did such a thing.

When he did, Hinata stared, shocked, and then her face softened, as if she was experiencing something familiar. She did not move or try to escape his grasp. Instead, she somewhat hesitantly embraced him in return, mirroring his sudden action. No more words were uttered, for there were none that could express the stage the two were undergoing.

After a few minutes, he released her and she in turn did so as well. He stood, and she did as well. "Eat," he commanded. "You were too weak to attempt what you did. You need to recover strength. Afterwards, try to exercise a bit before sleeping."

She glanced at him with droopy, drowsy eyes, yet they showed understanding and comfortableness. She squatted down on the floor and bit into the crusty bread that now had gone cold. Itachi gazed at her silently for a moment before stalking out of the room.


	3. Meeting with Cousin

Subjection

**Disclaimer: **Please refer to chapters one and two.

A/N: It pains me to say that no one has reviewed the previous chapter yet. D: I even specifically advised to review... C'mon! It's not that hard! Some messages for a few people:

**DarkDragon1124****  
Forgottenpawsteps****  
bobbinbird****  
Emerald2564  
mysterygurl13**

For all you, is it really so hard to review? If you fave my fan fictions, tell me what you enjoyed reading. If you put it on your alert list, tell me what makes you want to keep reading. Or if you don't do either, tell me why you don't, and what I can do to help you want to. It makes me said to find that some people don't consider what the author feels. Even if all you do is criticize me, it's nice to know you at least took the time to type something.

_**Please **_review? I'm not going to tell the readers what the chapter is about if you don't review.

--

"What's so special about her, un?"

Hinata frowned inwardly. _Hello!_ She was the Hyuuga heiress! Byakugan-empowered sight! Lover of the Kyuubi! She had to suppress a blush when she thought that, and her hard effort was rewarding.

"She is going to draw in the Jinchuuriki we need," Itachi cocked an eyebrow, as if it were obvious. Kisame snorted in agreement and continued in devouring his meal.

"Well, Tobi likes her!" The boy with a deep voice exclaimed excitedly. Hinata thought this was strange. One of the Akatsuki was this hyper and energetic, speaking in third person, with such an adult voice? It seemed anyone could get in these days. They must really be getting desperate. He had dark spiky black hair in a similar style to Naruto's, dressed in the standard Akatsuki uniform, and an orange mask with a swirl style beginning from his right eye-hole, the only one, but she was unable to tell his eye color.

"It doesn't matter if you like her or not, yeah." This man had to be in his early twenties, Hinata figured. His voice wasn't considerably low or high, yet spoke with such a sense of logic that he might be a professor. His long blond hair was tied into a small, tight ponytail near the tip of his head, though the majority of it slipped neatly into his cloak. His bangs covered his left eye (which turned out to be mechanical) but his visible eye was a bright blue. "If she's not special, Leader's not gonna like her."

"The Leader will ignore his personal opinions, Deidara," Itachi growled. "He's not as stupid as you are. He knows I will not cooperate if he orders I finish her and kidnap someone else. I'm head of torture, not kidnapping like most seem to think."

"I know, I know," Deidara bravely defended his two-cents worth. "I've been here long enough to know that, yeah. I'm just saying if we want to use her in our plan, she's got to special some way, un."

"Hey," Kisame spoke up suddenly, "are you going to eat your take-out?"

Deidara glared at the shark-man and picked up his chopsticks. "Yeah, of course, un!"

Kisame pouted and Tobi quickly hid his meal. Hinata stared gloomily at her untouched own, wondering how she had gotten into this situation.

If she recalled correctly, she had done as Itachi had instructed and had been woken to two people arguing violently with Itachi trying to get them to shut up. Kisame walked into her chamber then and dragged her out of the not-nearly-as-comfortable-as-it-looked bed and into a wooden chair next to a just as wooden dining table. The two who were arguing—Deidara and Tobi—entered the room still bickering in quiet voices and sat down as well, then Itachi returned with several boxes of ordered food. He had then explained that none of them had decent cooking abilities and each tested their corresponding meals for poison. Hinata had no idea how, so did not do so. Then they started talking as if she wasn't present, which upset her greatly, as it indicated that they held no respect for her. Whatever 'plan' they were talking about, she didn't like the sound of it.

She grew impatient so scanned the food placed in front of her. Was it poisoned? How would she be able to tell? She didn't exactly want to ask how, being taught not to speak unless spoken to, so without thinking, activated her Byakugan. She didn't notice the alarmed expressions on her captors' faces.

She gaped. It _was _poisoned! Using her nearly three-hundred-sixty degrees of vision, she surveyed the area in a stationary position. Several Leaf ANBU stood only two hundred meters from the hideout. That was definitely not good. One of them made a motion to the others, and they began to slowly and stealthily trek towards their hideout. Were these idiots _trying_ to die?!

Suddenly she felt herself against the ground and an immense pain in her arm. Her near-white eyes immediately focused on where she had been sitting and discovered Itachi had been the one to punch her. She grew frustrated. She had just lost the hunter-nin! After sending a 'look' towards the Uchiha, she researched for the master trackers. Unable to find them, Hinata let out a groan and deactivated her Byakugan.

"What did you do th-that for?" she barked. "Y-you made me l-lose my con-concentra-tration."

"May I inquire as to what you were concentrating on?" Itachi challenged. Her head was beginning to hurt with confusion. What? Did he believe she was attempting an escape? After what had happened only earlier that same day?

"A-ANBU." Her signature stuttering had found its way back into her voice. "M-my food was p-poisoned, s-so I scan-scanned the a-area an-and found AN-ANBU cl-close b-by."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?!" Deidara groaned. "We don't have time to mess with these guys! Leader's going to be mad!"

"There are ten of them," Itachi informed. "Closing in at an approximate thirty-eight and one-ninth meters per second. We still have some time. Kisame, Deidara and I will greet them. Meanwhile, Tobi will take the hostage and evacuate. Get to HAC point ten."

"Tobi's a good boy!" Tobi's grin was palpable—as it always was. In a split second, Hinata found herself in the arms of the Akatsuki and already out of the building. She gulped; despite how childish this particular person was, his posture and speed assured her that he was much more powerful than she had thought, and if one underestimated him it would surely be their downfall.

"Um, Tobi," Hinata began, nervously preparing a questionnaire, "w-what does HAC stand-stand for?"

Tobi glanced at her, seeming surprised that she had spoken, but answered anyways. "'Hide and Conquer.' Sasori came up with it, actually. Whenever something goes wrong, we quickly fall back. Once the enemies catch up, we have to kill them. But that's what being a shinobi's all about, isn't it?" He strategically added in a somewhat lighter tone, but the shivers never left her spine.

"Why..." Tobi this time kept his head looking straight as she spoke. "Why do shinobi and kunoichi alike k-kill people? I know it's an odd question, seeing as I'm a kunoichi myself, b-but I've only k-killed someone when the situation was as worse as it got."

"Hmm..." He titled his head thoughtfully to the side. "Wow. I never thought about it, Hinata. I'll ask Deidara for you! He knows everything! Or maybe Leader next chance I get!" He chuckled. "Just kidding! Leader will kill me for asking that! ...Hey, Deidara will too! But you'll protect me, right?!"

She smiled. "S-sure."

"Yay!" Tobi gripped her arms tighter than he was originally carrying her (marriage-style, Hinata thought it was called? She blushed deeply), as if to show he would hug her but right now he couldn't. She only nodded at him, showing she understood.

Suddenly he came to a halt. He didn't need to speak for Hinata to know what that meant; _they were there. _She slid from his arms and landed soundlessly on the soft earth. He grabbed her arm and dragged her until the came upon a rock wall. There, he made his hands into a symbol Hinata could not recognize, and began dragging her again, only this time, _through the rock._ She couldn't help but guess that he had used a genjutsu, an illusionary technique; after all, it explained why he used a sign and why she could not see the small cavern they were presently in.

"Please be quiet, Hinata," he requested. "We're not actually going through HAC—you're a prisoner, you're not allowed to get involved."

She could only nod once more. He leaned on one side of the wall in such a style it reminded Hinata of Naruto's former best friend, Sasuke. Sasuke had left the village nearly three and a half years ago, his mind set on gaining power from an evil serpent-king named Orochimaru, who mastered forbidden jutsu and seemed like your typical villain (you know the story—betrayed his friends, persevering in a supreme annoying way to take over the world... again, typical). What was the reason for wanting to do that again? Oh yes, to extract revenge for everybody in his clan being murdered by killing the murderer, his older brother by at least three years, Itachi Uchiha.

She gave a sudden jolt. Oh, dear Lord... She was actually becoming comfortable around a cold-blooded homicidal clan-killer, wasn't she? She shouldn't, and she knew that far too well. This person... This _thing..._ had murdered his family—his parents, his cousins, his aunts, his uncles, his _friends_ he had known since he was a _child_, when he was barely an adolescent—and had not felt remorse or regret. In fact, he probably only left his younger sibling alive because he wanted to see his reaction. While most people suspected he pitied, Hinata knew that was most certainly not the case; for how could someone who had murdered his family in cold blood feel pity? How heartless could this man possibly be?

She ran a hand over the top of her head where the blue-violet hairs sprouted like thirsty weeds. Now was _not_ the time to be reviewing this information. She had known this since she was a small juvenile—since her father's identical twin Hizashi had been executed in place of her own father, perhaps before, and she should have remembered.

After firmly deciding she was going to be much more careful around the Uchiha, for not only her sake but also Naruto's, she let her mind drift to the Akatsuki in the area with her. Tobi, was it? She had never heard of such a name before. Moreover, what business did this man, whose mere aura made you feel he was as innocent as a newborn, have in the Akatsuki? He didn't act like he fit in with these criminals. There had to be some sort of story behind him as to why this Leader she had heard so much about let him join. She didn't think it was because he was the first person to fill in an application after they lost one Sasori, whom her close friend Sakura Haruno had had the satisfaction of killing.

Then there was Deidara. What motive did he have to join? He always acted like he didn't want to be there, especially when Tobi was pestering him. She had yet to discover what made him such a dangerous person. He definitely was nice enough to be considered someone who wasn't part of the organization, and if he was to disguise himself in a village she wouldn't have guessed that was his true identity. Was it his mechanical eye? What purpose did that eye serve? It didn't seem like it only was there to replace another eye.

Moving on to Kisame. Of course she could understand why they would want him—his malice, his strength, his sword (she recalled him referring to it as "Samehada" earlier), and the sense of inferiority that would crawl up one's backside when you faced him. There was really no question about him. He was the closest to a perfect S-class criminal once could think up. If he was only a subordinate, though, she didn't want to meet the Leader, she thought with a shiver.

Speaking of which, what was this "plan" Deidara had mentioned? There were many things, plenty, that were abnormal about her. Few of the Hyuuga heirs were allowed to become ninja. Sure, maybe she was physically weak and had speech problems, but that had been the sole reason why Hiashi allowed her to become one. He'd told Kurenai, her sensei, that she was too weak, too... powerless and disrespected to be valued as an heiress, and as such if she were to be killed during a mission, it would be a blessing to their clan to receive a different heiress (which would have been her little sister Hanabi, who even then was more powerful than herself). Maybe that's what Deidara had meant by "not special."

Her thoughts were interrupted when the trio that had stayed behind appeared mysteriously before her. She jumped, startled, though Tobi was not (in fact, he was practically begging for another smack in the head from Deidara with his overexuberant attitude).

"Hey! So they dead?" Tobi grinned.

"Well..." Deidara trailed off. "No, yeah."

Tobi tilted his head. "Yes or no, it's simple, Deidara."

Deidara looked annoyed. "No, yeah."

"Make up your mind!"

"I said NO, yeah!"

"Is that a yes or no?"

Kisame quieted them with a look. He motioned to Itachi with his head and Hinata followed his gesture. The Uchiha was glaring at her in the most unfriendly way she had yet to experience. Had she really begun to feel _comfortable_ around this particular character? She gulped, swallowing her fear. "Y-yes?"

"Those aren't all ANBU," he reported. "The group mostly consists of chunin. Strange to be finding around our base, wouldn't you say? Isn't it even stranger that they are all from Konoha, just like you, kunoichi? And stranger still is that the Kyuubi is among them. You haven't been away for a week and they've already found you."

Her face paled, opening her mouth to speak several times before closing it; she didn't know why, but her voice box seemed to want to take a nap right now. She was as startled as they were—Itachi could conclude that much through her expression. Perhaps she had some sort of tracking device placed on her? Konoha's Aburame clan would definitely think of that. But no one from said clan had been taken on the mission to Amegakure. A tracker, then. One of the chunin he had previously mentioned had the purple markings on his face of the Inuzuka clan. That was it. He used his nindogs to track her scent. And then he had his own chakra-enhanced smell to double their efforts. This wasn't going as Itachi had planned.

"We don't have time to fight them in such a large group," he continued after deciding that his quick deduction was accurate. "Kisame and I will create clones to hold them off. Tobi and Deidara will escort our captive out." Then he turned to the blond. "Give us a signal as soon as you've evacuated."

"Got it, un," Deidara nodded.

Tobi mimicked his move. Then he turned to Hinata. "C'mon, Hinata! We've got to get out of here!"

She had a sudden impulse to roll her eyes—not only had she been _listening_, but she was also on the opposite side they were!—but just barely refrained from doing so. It would not help her situation, and she desperately needed to get on their good side in order to find an opportune moment of escape.

Seeing her resignation, Tobi's palpable grin found its way back onto his invisible face, and he gripped the girl's wrist tight. Itachi and his blue sidekick exited first. The other two flew out in a blur of red and black, the energetic one still keeping a hold on her.

Then what Hinata heard next made her gasp.

"_Hinata!"_

Her stomach twisted as sudden sentiments entered her mind. Only two voices had called her name, but she knew those voices well. There was her cousin, Neji, and her lover... the one she had prayed would not have arrived and that Itachi had only been lying to get a some sort of a response out of her...

Naruto Uzumaki.

"Keep going, un!" Deidara commanded in a silvery, barely heard exclamation. "We can't afford to waste time! Kyuubi'll go nuts before we get a hit in, un!"

"Deidara, if you don't be quiet, they'll notice us!" Tobi shouted, attempting to sound like he was scolding, but his plan backfired.

"Hinata!" Suddenly a very angry and mature-voiced man appeared out of nowhere and almost karate-chopped Tobi's hand that was keeping a hold on her, but the shinobi was well-prepared and avoided it and—

—and hit the back of a tree, causing him to stop and gather his bearings. Deidara let out a groan of annoyance. Hinata took the time to recognize who had come to rescue her.

His deep brown hair flowed gently down to his hips in a very loose and very low ponytail. He had a pointed nose and thin lips, giving him an almost permanent stern expression. His eyebrows slanted down naturally, but now they slanted down more than she had ever seen, his teeth like an animal's, and his pure white eyes resembled hers so much she wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen it.

"Neji!" she tried to cry out, but Deidara's hand slapped to her mouth with a warning glare.

"Stay here," he hissed. "I've got to go help that idiot-of-a-bastard, un."

Neji pounced upon Tobi in the blink of an eye, not giving him enough time to recollect his thoughts. The Akatsuki fought back unhesitantly, though from what Hinata could tell, the impact from the tree definitely harmed his spine. He was having some trouble standing, and just as Neji jumped away, Tobi almost collapsed from exhaustion and pushing himself for the sake of self-preservation. Then she saw it.

Her cousin's famous Hakke Hazangeki, or Eight Trigrams Mountain Crusher. That stance. Deidara evidently recognized it, too, for he was gone in a flash and even her Byakugan hadn't been able to track him. Neji was immediately alert to his sudden presence and swerved around, ready to defeat him. What he _wasn't_ ready for was the madman's attack.

But he'd call it art.

A small spider descended from above and landed almost frighteningly silent atop his victim's head. Hinata gasped. "Neji, he's above you!"

"I already know!" Neji barked in his annoyed tone. That meant he was waiting for the signal to jump at him. But he _missed_ it, and that was the problem. Maybe he didn't see what the problem was with a spider finding him a comfortable landing spot at first glance, but she saw him begin to study the small arachnid. She could tell he saw what it was in an instant and his hand quickly reached up to get rid of the problem.

Too bad he was half a second too late.

The spider exploded, and the Hyuuga was sent whirling across the ground. _"Neji!"_ She made a run to her relative, but Deidara was there beside her again.

"I told you to stay put, un," he reminded. She glared at him as defiantly as she dared, not wanting to infuriate him, only point out she would not easily succumb to his dominance, as that where she was used to being, though it wasn't true. She realized what he had just ordered of her a moment after she should have and was now praying he wasn't nearly as strict as Itachi had been. Then his expression softened. "Look, I know you're a captive, but do you know any medical jutsu that could heal that idiot, un?"

She started at his request. "Umm... I only kn-know the b-bare basic-ics. S-sorry?"

"Don't stutter, un," he muttered. "It's annoying, forces me to underestimate you, and makes you seem like a bitch trying not to let on she lied."

She halted; really? She shook her head inwardly. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. She needed to focus on getting Neji to safety. She didn't have to when someone she didn't recognize jumped from the bushes and recovered his bloody body. The only way she could tell he was alive was the way he kept blinking in a bewildered and enraged way. At least he was safe.

"We should get away soon, hn," Deidara stated the obvious. "Tobi, can you walk?"

"'Course!" the energetic male was up in a second. "I'm not a weak kunoichi who needs pampering! Let's get going!"

Somehow they all doubted his words that were meant to comfort them, but Deidara shrugged. "'K, but don't expect us to stop for you."

Hinata stared at him. Were they all like this? So cold-hearted and uncaring and un-compassionate? Even for their teammates? But then again they _were_ madmen who were trying to collect demons and harness their power to rule the world with an iron fist. She supposed she could let it slide.

For now, at least.


End file.
